Break of Day (Challenge #162) -- PG-13

[librarian_7]

AN: This story was written in response to Challenge # 162: Broken. And I have to give a nod to Allegrita, because somewhere in reading her story for the challenge, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” I got the idea for this one. They’re not at all related, really. I also have to thank her for her careful proofreading and brilliant suggestions. Usual disclaimers apply.

Break of Day

Janie didn't come home last night.

It's getting light out, and I'm scared. She's never stayed out so late before. I know she's not here--she always comes and looks in on me, when she gets in. She says she's reporting in to the man of the house, but I know she's really checking on me. Either way, I always sleep better, once she's home.

I've been worried about her, for about a month, ever since she had that big fight with Ma. Man, that was a blow-out. Janie was about to head out for the night, and she figured out Ma had gone through her purse and taken some money. So, she goes and yells at Ma about how she needed that money to buy herself a good new dress, and she earned it, and she had the right to spend it and all. And she called Ma a few names, said she was an old drunk and some other stuff I’m not going to repeat. She said Ma just wanted to blow the money on booze.

Janie had a pretty good point about that.

I wasn’t right there in the room, but our house ain’t all that big, and when Ma and Janie get to yelling, well, what with the thin walls I expect half the neighbors heard them, too.

When Janie stopped to take a breath, Ma set right in on her. First off, she wanted to know how Janie got the money to begin with, and accused her of selling something she hadn’t ought to be selling. And she called her a stupid little cow, who was going to get the bite she deserved, one fine night, and then where would we all be? Then I heard a loud crack. Ma must’ve smacked her a good one, because she had a great big shiner the next day.

Janie didn’t go out that night, and I heard her crying herself to sleep. Ma just drank till she passed out, same as most nights.

Some of what they said that night kind of confused me. I wasn’t sure what Ma meant about a bite. Later, though, I got to thinking about what I’d seen one night. Janie had come in later than usual, maybe one, maybe later. I woke up when I heard the door, and Janie came in like she always did. When she saw I was awake, she sat down on the edge of my bed to talk for a minute. I could see her real plain in the light from the hallway. She looked happy and excited. So I asked her if she’d had a good time that night. She blushed a little, and said yeah. A real good time. Then she turned her head a little, and I saw these funny marks on her neck. I asked her about those, and she said it was nothing.

But after that, a lot of times, when she came in late, she was wearing a little scarf tied around her neck.

Look, I may only be 12, but I’m not stupid. I’ve seen the monster movies. And I don’t guess anyone would believe me, but I sure can’t think of anything else that would explain it.

I tried to talk to Janie, I mean, I was worried about her. But you can’t really ask your big sister straight out about vampires.

So I tried to be, I dunno, subtle about it. I’d catch her in a good mood, maybe make her a sandwich or something, and ask her about what she did, all those evenings she spent out. She’d give me this look, like she knew exactly what I was getting at, and then tell me oh, she went to the movies with friends, or to discos, or sometimes they went to parties. I told her she never used to get that dressed up to go to the movies. I asked her if she had a boyfriend, and she looked kind of funny, and said no, but she was hoping to soon.

After she and Ma had that fight, I waited a couple of days, looking for a good time. Then one night she got home a little after midnight, and when she came in, I told her I wanted to talk to her.

She was looking kind of tired, kind of pale, but she sat down on the edge of my bed. “What now?” she asked.

“Janie, you got to tell me what’s going on,” I said. “I’ve got to know what Ma meant, the other night.”

She slumped a little, and put her hand up over her eyes. “I guess you couldn’t help hearing, huh?”

I just waited. I knew she’d answer my question when she was ready.

She said it was kind of hard to explain. She said it wasn’t anything bad, not what Ma made it out to be. Then she got this funny little smile, and made a little crack about Ma knowing damn well exactly what it was like. I told her she shouldn’t swear, and she laughed a little and apologized. “I just get tired of Ma pretending to be so high and mighty sometimes,” she said. “I’m not doing anything wrong. It’s just that, sometimes, I meet a nice guy, and he worries about me riding the bus home so late, so he gives me cab fare. It seems stupid to waste it all on taxis, so I stop the driver after a few blocks, and catch the bus the rest of the way. But I’ll tell you this, one of these days I’m going to meet the right one. And then you and me, we’ll be on easy street. Some of these guys, they’re rich, and they don’t mind showing a girl some appreciation.”

“What’s Ma going to say?”

She smiled real crooked, and said, “I don’t really care.”

What could I say to that? I told her to be careful, and made her promise always, always to come home.

She crossed her heart, like she did since we were little, and said, “Before daybreak.”

It’s getting light out. Sun’s going to be up any minute, and she’s not here yet.

I went in and shook Ma’s shoulder, trying to wake her up. When she opened her eyes, I told her Janie hadn’t come home. She just mumbled something about how it was bound to happen, and turned her back to me.

There’s only one thing I can think of to do. A week or so ago, Janie caught me when Ma wasn’t around, and gave me a business card. “Just in case,” she told me, “just in case you need to, here’s a guy you can call. He’s one of them, he’s a good guy. He’s got an office down on Pershing Square.” She turned away, and paused and looked back over her shoulder. “You know it’s best to call after dark, right?”

I nodded. And I put the card away in my hidey hole, the place where Ma can’t find the stuff I don’t want her to know about.

I don’t want to call this guy. If he really is what I think, I don’t know that he’ll help me. I don’t know if he can, or if he’ll even want to. I guess I will though. I just don’t have a lot of choices.

But right now, the sun’s come up, and I’m sitting here, waiting for Janie to keep her promise.

[Lilly]

Oh. My. Gosh.

This is SO good. And raw. And true. This kids' voice just cuts through -- right from the opening line. This is truly a brilliant take on the "other" side. It's a slightly different perspective than we usually see and it's incredibly powerful.

[MickLifeCrisis]

This gave me chills. Honestly - goosebumps. As Lilly said, raw and powerful. And a look into their world we haven't seen before. I wonder if Ma started drinking after she was no longer freshie material?

I hope Janie is alright. Just sleeping it off somewhere. I wouldn't mind, you know, learning the "rest of the story."

Great answer to the challenge!

[allegrita]

When Lucky sent this story to me, I got goosebumps, too. Janie's brother feels so very real--and his fear and worry permeate this story. I found myself fretting about him--what will happen to him if Janie's really gone? That's how visceral and immediate his voice is.

Of course, the one ray of hope is that business card. And I hope, maybe, this story will inspire another of your brilliant "From the Case Files of Mick St. John" stories. I would love to find out what happened to Janie, and what becomes of her tough, loving, devoted little brother, who deserves a lot better than the life he's stuck in.

Lucky, this is some of your very best work, and I'm truly honored that my little story sparked something in you that led to this brilliant piece.

[darkstarrising]

Lucky, this is a truly inspired story. Here, we see the world of vamps and freshies, not through their eyes, but through those of a concerned little brother. Right off the rip, you feel his fear and dread, which builds as the story progresses:

Janie didn't come home last night.

A simple statement, but one full of unspoken fear of what might have happened to his sister.

This caught my attention, when her brother corners Janie about what his mother meant about getting 'the bite she deserved':

She said it wasn’t anything bad, not what Ma made it out to be. Then she got this funny little smile, and made a little crack about Ma knowing damn well exactly what it was like.

So mother was a freshie, too? If so, she didn't fare well later on in life. I wonder, is her 'concern' for her daughter really jealousy now that Janie is living the life she once did? I wonder how she will feel about her daughter's absence when she sobers up.

With the sun up, and no sign of his sister, a young boy struggles with whether he should call that guy on Pershing Square, fearing what that guy just might be. In the end, he's still hopeful in the power of a promise, praying that with the break of day, it won't be broken:

But right now, the sun’s come up, and I’m sitting here, waiting for Janie to keep her promise.

[librarian_7]

Thanks so much for the great comments! I was reading Alle's "Boulevard," and thinking about the darker side of being a Freshie, and as I read about her ex-Freshie trying to pick up the pieces, I thought, you know, it's a dangerous life, and there must be those who just vanish one night. And wondering about who they leave behind, well, this piece pretty much wrote itself.

[cassysj]

This is fantastic. Janie's brother is so concerned, so real and he's worried and while he knows he doesn't really KNOW until he uses that card. It sounds like Janie's mother never took to post freshie life well hence the drinking and while she's fighting with her daughter and probably more than a little jealous she knows it's a hard ending to the life even when you get out alive.

Amazing.

[francis]

This breaks my heart. I really hope the kid calls that man on Pershing Square because otherwise her future is just a mess and he will never know what happened to his sister.
Love the language and the atmosphere.